New luxury apartments open at River's Edge

The second of two luxury apartment buildings on the River's Edge development site is now open to residents.

Last Tuesday, Jan. 10, local officials including Malden Mayor Gary Christenson and Medford Mayor Stephanie Muccini Burke received a tour of the upscale, 282-unit complex at 150 River's Edge Drive in Medford.

Six units are currently occupied and construction on some parts of the building is ongoing. Construction is expected to be completed in July.

The building is similar in scale and amenities to 100 River's Edge Drive, which was finished in 2009 and has 222 residential units. Leasing Manager David Villanova of Gables Residential led the tour, showing off a state-of-the-art fitness center, conference rooms, cafe/lounge areas, a game room with Xbox, foosball, and pool, an outdoor fire pit and heated swimming pool, and a sample 750-square foot, one-bedroom apartment.

For now, all units are for rent only, with one-bedroom rents ranging from $2,300 to $2,645 per month. Fourteen of the 282 units, or 5 percent, are designated as affordable.

Present for the tour was John Preotle of Preotle, Lane & Associates, the developer behind the brownfield restoration project on the 215-acre former industrial site along the Malden River. Much of the site is designated as commercial space, including 200 River's Edge Drive, which is fully leased and includes offices for Marriott International and Management Sciences for Health.

Construction has not yet begun on two additional office buildings, known as 400 and 500 River's Edge Drive. Preotle said the 400 building will mirror the 200 building, with construction set to begin this spring. Planning has not yet begun on the 500 building. The full 30-acre project could be finished by 2020, Preotle said.

The site is overseen by the mayors and other officials from Medford, Malden and Everett who make up the Mystic Valley Development Commission, which was formed in the late 1990s. The property is considered tax-exempt by the commission, but the developer makes an annual "pilot" payment to the commission that is partially distributed among the three cities. Because the occupied buildings at River's Edge all stand in Medford, the city has received a larger share of that money.

"The developer under the master developer's agreement is required to make pilot payments based on a blended tax rate set by the three assessors," Christenson said. "However, Malden only receives a small percentage of those payments as they are based on the affected land that makes up the overall development."

The 150 building was constructed by Criterion Development Partners. Preotle, Lane & Associates owns condominium interests in 20,000 square feet designated for restaurant/retail and 1,000 spaces of structured parking on the site.